This description of related art is provided for the purpose of generally presenting a context for the disclosure that follows. Unless indicated otherwise herein, concepts described in this section are not prior art to this disclosure and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion herein.
Amid growing concerns over non-renewable energy sources, efforts have been made to develop technologies to harness renewable energy and to increase its efficiency. Grid-tie inverters are common in the growing renewable energy industry, for instance. In general, grid-tie inverters convert direct current (DC) voltage generated by photovoltaic panels into alternating current (AC), as used by a power grid. Oftentimes, grid-tie inverters include safety mechanisms to avoid “backfeeding” the grid when there is a fault in the system. The term “backfeeding” refers to a situation that occurs when electric power is being induced into a local power grid, causing power to flow in an opposite direction from the usual flow of power. Further, grid-tie inverters are typically configured as one of two different types—batteryless inverters that perform a direct conversion, and battery-based inverters capable of providing some autonomy. Broadly speaking, batteryless inverters directly convert high voltage from photovoltaic arrays to AC. In contrast, battery-based inverters typically first convert voltage from photovoltaic arrays to a lower voltage suitable for battery charging, and then convert the battery voltage to AC power to be backfed to the grid. In some cases, there may be advantages to providing energy across a membrane, such as to recharge pressure-sealed devices, enable rapid setup of renewable power sources through windows, walls, roofs, ceilings, floors, and so forth.